College Algebra Related Pages: 624 "Probability of an Event"
College Algebra and Trigonometry Related Pages: 916 "Probability of an Event"
Precalculus Related Pages: 838 "Probability of an Event"

This activity allows you to experiment with conditional probability, a concept supplemental to the probability concepts presented in your text. The activity simulates pulling red and green balls out of three boxes. The boxes are pre-arranged so that there are two red balls in one box, two green balls in another, and one green and one red ball in the third. You can shuffle the order of the boxes and the order of the balls in the boxes.

By manipulating the number of trials you experiment with conditional probability. Conditional probability is the chance that an outcome will occur if the first condition is met. To figure the probability of the event occurring you must consider what affect the first event has on the second. In this applet the condition is that the first ball must be green. You can compare the number of times the first ball is green and the number of times both are green to determine the conditional probability.

More formally, conditional probability is the probability of an event occurring given that another event also occurs. It is expressed as P(A/B). It reads "Probability of Event A on condition of Event B." P(A/B) = P(A and B)/P(B), where P(B) is the probability of event B and P(A and B) is the joint probability of A and B